


Winter Schnee, Professional Wingman

by idiotwithacatpen



Series: Fair Game Week Soulmate Aus [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Day One: Semblances, I came up with this title in 2 seconds, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Semblances, ari is in it but she's not relevant, can you tell, fairgameweek2020, this is a soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23179027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwithacatpen/pseuds/idiotwithacatpen
Summary: Seven days, seven fair game soulmate aus.When you turn 17, your soulmate's Semblance appears on your arm. Clover turns 17 with his team around him and finds out that his soulmate's Semblance is misfortune. His teammates find it hilarious, but he wonders if his soulmate's life is hell because of it.Qrow's life is definitely hell because of his Semblance, but he waits for that one fateful day where he's destined to meet the person who's going to balance it out. Unfortunately for both of them, they're oblivious.Winter takes matters into her own hands.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fair Game Week Soulmate Aus [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666321
Comments: 24
Kudos: 157





	Winter Schnee, Professional Wingman

Clover stares at his wrist in anticipation, counting down the seconds in his mind. It’s 8:15 right now, and at 8:17, he’ll see the words appear. Just two more minutes, and he gets to know his soulmate’s Semblance.

“You know, staring at your arm for that long isn’t going to make his Semblance show up any faster,” Robyn drawls, flopping over the chair she’s been lounging in. “So you might as well have some cake.”

“First of all, I haven’t been staring for _that_ long. Second of all, cake? Where did you find cake?”

Harriet appears in the doorway, staggering as she tries to balance a cake stand on one arm. Cursing, Robyn rushes to go help her and barely catches the cake before it hits the ground.

Clover blinks. “Lucky catch?”

“We’ll never know with you around, will we?” Ari sighs as she follows Harriet into the room, the tips of her braids covered in green globs of frosting and crumbs.

Raising an eyebrow, Clover asks, “I take it your baking skills aren’t as good as you thought?”

Ari crosses her arms. “ _I_ could have done it if Harriet hadn’t insisted on speed-decorating-”

“There’s a minute until his soulmate’s Semblance shows up,” Harriet says, mimicking Ari’s pose as Robyn carefully sets the cake down on the table. “We had to get it done fast, so I did.”

Clover takes the opportunity to look at his cake. It’s clearly been haphazardly cut in the shape of what he thinks is supposed to look like a four-leaf clover, and the green frosting seems to be sliding off. On top of the mess is a message that’s nearly impossible to read, but Clover’s seen enough bad handwriting to decipher the words _Happy 17th, Clover!_

“Haven’t you ever watched Cake Wars?” Ari demands. “You have to wait for the cake to cool unless you want the frosting to look like _that._ ” She points at the frosting, which is still sliding down to the base of the cake.

Harriet waves her away and checks her Scroll. “It’s fine. Clover, thirty seconds.”

Clover stiffens and turns back to his wrist. His teammates sit down in the chairs around him, their eyes on the cake. Ari pulls out one of her swords and carefully cuts a huge slice. She barely manages to balance it long enough to put it on a plate, but she doesn’t hand him the cake. Not yet.

“Twenty-five,” Robyn says distractedly, her attention split between the cake, his wrist and her Scroll. She accepts the next piece of cake and starts eating while they wait for the seconds to tick by.

“Twenty,” Ari mutters through a mouthful of cake. She gags almost immediately. “Harriet, are you sure this recipe was a good one?”

“I got it off the description of a baking hacks video, don’t ask me.”

“Why would you trust a _baking hacks video-_ ”

Harriet swallows her bite of cake, clearly not finding a problem with its taste. She gestures with her plastic fork as she responds, “They said seven quick and easy hacks for baking, so I figured it was a good idea. Besides, I _knew_ you would mess something up.”

“That frosting exploding was your fault, but whatever,” Ari replies, setting her plate down. She checks her watch. “Ten seconds, Clover.”

“Nine,” Harriet says, putting her cake to the side so she can perch on the armrest of Clover’s chair.

Robyn, still with her cake in her hands, jumps over to the other armrest. She and Harriet lean close to his wrist and wait.

“What if it’s the other wrist?” Ari asks as she balances on the top of the chair like a gargoyle.

“It won’t be,” Clover replies. The confidence he tries for doesn’t _quite_ make it into his tone, but he’s always felt like the words should be on his right wrist.

Ari pulls out her Scroll and positions the camera so she can take a picture of his wrist. “I’ll send it to Elm and she can get it filed for you,” she says. 

“Thanks.”

“Three,” Harriet says, her voice almost a shout.

Robyn _does_ shout. “TWO!”

“One,” Ari screeches even louder than Robyn.

“Zero,” Clover finishes as everyone’s Scrolls hit 8:17:07. The members ofTeam CHRY lean as close as they can to his wrist and wait.

Red letters start to appear, one by one. _MI_

“Mist,” Harriet suggests.

“Mirror,” Robyn says.

“Mirage,” Ari offers.

“Misfortune,” Clover says, getting weird looks from the others. It’s an odd guess, but the letters forming do nothing to prove him wrong.

_MIS_

“Damn it,” Ari and Robyn say at once. Harriet waits with bated breath, but she can’t even come close to matching Clover’s level of excitement.

This is it. Sure, he’s not exactly meeting his soulmate yet, but at least he’ll have a hint. For all he knows, he’s already met them and didn’t notice.

_MISF_

Harriet sighs in disappointment, but Clover has a feeling he’s right that sticks with him as the next six letters appear. When he reads the full word, he’s not surprised.

_MISFORTUNE_

Robyn wheezes, drops her cake and falls off the armrest. Ari loses her balance and crashes to the ground, while Harriet has to put a hand on the back of the chair to steady herself.

“Well, that’s ironic,” Ari says when she picks herself up.

“How did you guess that?” Robyn groans from the floor. 

Clover shrugs. “Lucky guess?”

“Of course,” Harriet sighs. She stands up straighter. “Do you think he’s naturally unlucky, or does he just make everyone else unlucky?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Robyn cackles. “Misfortune. They’re never going to be able to do epic Semblance combinations like that.”

“Yeah, like Matter Absorption could ever work with _your_ Semblance.” Ari reaches for her cake before she thinks better of it and stops. “What if he’s just not a Huntsman?”

“Then he’d get Words instead, genius,” Harriet says. She turns to Clover. “Are you going to see if anyone in the school has misfortune?”

“Later,” Clover responds, his mind elsewhere. The rest of his team might find it funny that their Semblances are opposite, but he can’t help but think about Harriet’s question about the specifics of his soulmate’s Semblance. What if he affects the people around him? He’s always been glad that he’s able to help change the outcome of things for the better, but what if it’s the opposite for his soulmate? Would he be forced to stay distant to keep the people he loves safe? Looking around at his team, Clover can’t imagine the loneliness of staying away from everyone.

Gods, he hopes that’s not how his soulmate’s Semblance works.

-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-

The announcer- a teacher from Shade, he thinks- leans into the microphone and says over the cheers of the crowd, “Clover Ebi and Harriet Bree of Atlas versus Qrow and Raven Branwen of Beacon!”

Clover takes a second to thank the gods that his outfit doesn’t have sleeves as the parts of the arena click into place. A glance behind him tells him that they have an area of fire Dust and an area that looks like it was cut straight out of the desert. Combined with the sun’s heat, he can bet that their half will be unbearable. Then again, sunburn might be worse.

Behind the two members of Beacon’s team STRQ, a pirate ship rises along with a biome made of ice that glistens in Vacuo’s heat. Clover and Harriet send each other meaningful looks- they’re _definitely_ going over to Qrow and Raven’s side.

“Three…”

Kingfisher snaps out to its full form while Fast Knuckles extends around Harriet’s arms and hands. Across from them, Raven pulls out a long red blade, while Qrow puts a hand on the handle behind his back.

“Two…”

Clover slides one foot in front of the other and raises Kingfisher. Harriet curls her fingers into fists. Raven brandishes her sword, but Qrow’s only movement is a slight shift forward.

“One…”

Glancing at Harriet, Clover tries to indicate with his eyes that she should fight Qrow. She nods, smirking confidently, and turns back to their opponents.

“Go!”

Harriet takes off in a burst of speed and punches at Qrow’s face, and to her evident surprise, he ducks it with speed rivaling hers. Her second punch strikes metal as he yanks out a huge sword to block it.

Clover doesn’t see any more of their fight as Raven shoots in front of him with her sword slashing down. He raises Kingfisher to block it, just barely catching the blade before it hits him. Clover tries to kick her, but she leaps away. He uses the opportunity to grapple over to the pirate ship, and she follows him.

Swinging around the ship, Clover’s acutely aware of how quickly Raven follows him. He manages to turn at the last second to kick her away, but her sword is so long that when she jerks her arm, it still makes contact with Clover’s hand. He loses his grip on Kingfisher and lands hard on the deck of the ship. 

Raven moves the second she lands, returning to attack again while he’s disarmed. Hastily, Clover flicks his pin and amplifies his Semblance. He holds out a hand, and Kingfisher drops into it. He blocks her sword just in time.

Harriet’s shout of triumph reaches him when she finally lands a hit on Qrow and swings another punch at him. Raven spins and slashes her sword through thin air, opening up a red portal. Its twin appears under Qrow and drops him right next to Raven. With Harriet too far away to attack, they both focus on Clover.

 _Just my luck,_ Clover thinks. He doesn’t have time to flick his pin again as both of them spin and bring their swords down on him with so much strength that he almost collapses from holding them both back.

Qrow frowns, and Clover’s about to grin when his sword starts to change. Gears start to whir as Qrow’s massive sword curves, its handle extending. Clover doesn’t have time to process until Qrow angles the scythe downward and shoots him in the stomach.

Flying backward, Clover sees Harriet leap over the edge of the pirate ship and hit Raven in the face so hard that the deck collapses under her. As Raven falls, Harriet catches Qrow’s scythe and tries to throw him in after her, but he dodges her attack.

Clover staggers to his feet and casts Kingfisher towards Qrow’s scythe. He tries to yank the weapon away, but Qrow only raises an eyebrow and jerks his scythe so that Clover gets dragged closer.

After that, it’s a mess. Qrow manages to dodge Harriet’s punches and kicks her right into the path of Raven’s blade. Somehow, he and Qrow start fighting in the ice Dust area.

As Clover slides over the ice, it starts to crack. Panicked, he tries to use his Semblance before he realizes that he’s so low on Aura that it’ll probably break before the ice does. At least Qrow’s at roughly the same level of Aura- if he can just get one more good hit in, he can finish him.

The ice starts to crack even more under Clover’s feet, but he does his best to avoid it as Qrow closes in. The cracking follows him until Clover’s sure that this has to do with Qrow’s Semblance.

On cue, the announcer says, “It looks like Qrow Branwen’s using his Semblance- Misfortune!”

Clover hesitates with Kingfisher inches away from Qrow, but his opponent doesn’t. Qrow spins his scythe so fast that it catches Clover and throws him against the ice so hard that the entire area rumbles.

The buzzer blares across the arena and Clover sighs, watching his Aura tick down to 0% on the screen. He remembers why he hesitated in the first place and looks up, trying to see if anything is written on Qrow’s wrist.

Clover notices two things at once- that Qrow’s wrist is covered by a black band, and that a large chunk of ice is separating to fall on him. He tries to get to his feet, but he can barely stand up on the slippery, cracked ice. “ _Shit._ ”

Luckily, Qrow notices too. Eyes lighting with alarm, he doesn’t even hesitate to leap for Clover, throwing his scythe aside. The chunk falls as Qrow tackles him, making them both slide across the ice.

The ice chunk explodes into smaller bits that fly everywhere. Qrow sees them and positions himself over Clover so none of them hit him. By the time the ice has settled, the buzzer sounds twice- once for Qrow, whose aura is at 19%, and once for Harriet, who’s clearly been distracted enough for Raven to knock her off the ship.

Qrow sighs, his face so close to Clover’s that he can feel his breath shift his hair. The red-eyed boy pushes himself up, slight disappointment in his expression as he helps Clover to stand. “Sorry,” he rasps. “You okay?”

Clover just stares at him. Now that he thinks about it, Qrow’s kind of hot, and his face was just so close to his, and he’s still holding his hand, and he might be his soulmate- Clover nods mutely, unable to form a single word.

Looking relieved, Qrow turns back to Raven, who uses another portal to come over and high-five him. Harriet zips to Clover and gives him an _I-know-what-you’re-thinking_ look.

When they leave the arena, Robyn and Ari are already there, standing at the exit with identical shit-eating grins. Clover gives them one alarmed look before Harriet runs over to join them.

“So,” Robyn begins.

“You lost,” Ari continues.

“To a guy whose Semblance is exactly what’s written on your wrist,” Harriet finishes. She practically bounces as she asks, “Are you going to go talk to him?”

Clover hesitates. “I couldn’t even talk to him the first time,” he finally says. “And I don’t think he likes us that much. Not to mention if I ask about his soulmate’s Semblance… that kind of implies that I think it’s me, doesn’t it?”

“Your choice,” Harriet shrugs. She turns to the exit. “Let’s go get ice cream and cry over our loss, okay?”

Ari shoots a glance up at the bright sun and back down at her long sleeves. “ _That_ is something I can get behind,” she agrees, following Harriet.

Robyn starts walking after them, but she pauses when she sees Clover stay still. “Are you coming?”

“In a sec. I’ll catch up,” he replies, and Robyn shrugs and walks away.

Clover turns around to where he can see Team STRQ celebrating. Qrow is talking to his teammate, who wears a long white cloak. Her back is to Clover, but Qrow’s isn’t. Staring just a little too long, Clover knows he’s bright red when Qrow looks up, smirks and raises an eyebrow.

He turns and hurries in the other direction, his entire brain screaming at him. Clover doesn’t know if Qrow’s still looking at him, but he doesn’t want to find out. 

As he leaves the arena, he runs into Harriet, who seems to have seen the entire thing. “Are you _sure_ you don’t want to talk to him?”

“I’m busy trying to banish that from my memory, thanks.”

“...Good luck with that.”

-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-

General Ironwood reads the report again. An unauthorized Manta has landed somewhere in Mantle, and now they’ve taken out their weapons. Great. At least there aren’t too many. If he sends the Ace Ops and maybe Winter, they should be able to-

His Scroll beeps. Ironwood looks down and clicks on the picture from one of the drones. It’s blurry, but he recognizes dark hair and a torn red cape. Qrow.

“Sir?” Winter speaks up from across his desk, reminding him that she’s there. “What do you want us to do?”

Something clicks in his brain, and Ironwood looks up as fast as he can. “Do you have Clover’s file?”

Winter nods and extends her Scroll, where Clover’s picture pops up on the screen. He scrolls down to the bottom part to a picture of Clover’s wrist. And the word written on.

_MISFORTUNE._

“Oh, this’ll be hilarious,” Ironwood mutters. He looks up. “Just send the Ace Ops. Tell them to be stealthy.”

Winter follows his gaze to the picture of Clover’s wrist. “Oh.”

“How long do you think it’ll take for him to figure it out?” Ironwood smirks.

“Knowing both of them?” Winter shakes her head. “I’ll have to drop hints every day.”

“Something tells me that might not even do it,” Ironwood sighs.

Winter shrugs. “I’m doing it anyway.” She leaves the office.

-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-

Clover turns to Qrow. “Thanks for the call-out. That could have been bad.”

The Huntsman sighs, frowning. “I wouldn’t thank me,” he says, and Clover has the briefest flash of a fleeting memory, one about his Semblance. “My Semblance brings misfortune. Sometimes I can’t keep it under control.”

Thanking the gods that he’s learned to (somewhat) control his levels of gay panic, Clover says, “That so? Well, hey. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” He can tell that Qrow definitely _has_ been beating himself up about it. So maybe his soulmate’s Semblance really does just affect others. Hardly daring to breathe, Clover manages to continue, “ _My_ Semblance is _good_ fortune. Lucky you, huh?” He even winks, although that might be overkill.

This is it. If Qrow has his Semblance written on his wrist, he _should_ react, right?

Qrow looks shocked, and although Clover can’t describe his next expression, it’s almost heartbreaking. The hope alone is enough to make him think that maybe, just maybe this _is_ it. 

He doesn’t say anything else, and Clover turns away, disappointment pooling in him. Of course. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-

“You know,” Clover says, causing Qrow to look up from his Scroll. “General Ironwood admitted he sent the Ace Ops to arrest you all on purpose. Do you have any idea what that’s supposed to mean?”

“Maybe it’s because he remembers when I kicked your ass in the Vytal Festival.”

Clover gapes at him. “First of all, why do you remember that? Second, I would have won, I just got… distracted.”

Qrow raises an eyebrow. “Distracted? By what?”

“At this point, I don’t even remember,” Clover admits. “I tried very, very hard to forget what happened, and I think it worked.”

From the hallway, Harriet screams, “YOU WERE LITERALLY ON TOP OF HIM, THAT’S WHY.” 

Both of them look up to see Harriet streak by the doorway, electricity crackling in her wake. In the blink of an eye, she’s gone.

“...What?” Clover and Qrow ask at the same time. They both shrug and go back to their Scrolls.

After a few more minutes, Winter walks into the room. She pauses when she sees them together and starts backpedaling out. “I’ll just… leave you two to it.”

Qrow gives her a suspicious glare. “What do you want, Winter?”

“Oh, nothing,” Winter replies just a little _too_ casually, but she returns to the room. Clover knows her well enough to know that she’s definitely up to something and that her plan is working perfectly.

“Did you want to stay?” Clover asks, watching her badly hidden smirk grow wider.

“Not really,” Winter grumbles, glowering at Qrow. He returns the look. “Just out of _sheer curiosity_ ,” she begins, her words sounding forced, “Have you two ever thought about finding your soulmates?”

“Obviously,” Clover says. “I’ve only met one person with my soulmate’s Semblance, and they know mine, so it can’t be them.”

“Same,” Qrow sighs. He holds his covered wrist out to Clover and pulls the band away. “You wouldn’t happen to know someone else with good fortune as their Semblance, would you?”

Clover blinks, staring down at the teal letters on his friend’s wrist. “Your soulmate’s Semblance is-”

Winter forcibly grabs his wrist and holds it out to Qrow, shifting her gloved hand so he can read the single word written on it. Qrow’s eyes widen.

Agonizingly slowly, Qrow looks up at him. “And your soulmate’s Semblance is-”

“Yes, yes, you’re soulmates, everyone else knew, you’re idiots, and you can thank me later,” Winter huffs, releasing Clover’s wrist and standing up again. She leaves without another word, the sound of her boots audible for a good minute as she walks away.

Clover looks back to Qrow. “Um. You wouldn’t happen to be looking for a romantic soulmate, would you?”

“I..” Qrow trails off, but the way he stares at Clover answers the question for him. Clover suddenly realizes just how _close_ Qrow’s managed to get.

Oh.

All Clover can think of in that moment is how badly he wants to kiss Qrow.

So he does.

-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-🍀-

Clover dials General Ironwood with shaking fingers, looking between Qrow and Tyrian and Robyn. The general picks up after a few rings.

“What is it?”

“Uh, sir?” Clover asks, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He feels a hand wrap around his and looks up to find Qrow holding his hand. Qrow gives him an encouraging nod, so Clover continues, “Are you sure that arresting them is a good idea? Especially-”

“I’m aware Qrow is your soulmate,” Ironwood interrupts. “But I need you to arrest him and bring him back immediately. If he cooperates, no harm will come to him.”

Clover resists glaring at the Scroll. He turns and addresses everyone else in the airship. “Right, guys, let’s get Tyrian to prison and then we’ll go down to Mantle.”

“What? Clover, I gave you an order.” Ironwood sighs louder than it should be possible to sigh. “Clover, please. This is for the good of Atlas. Arrest Qrow.”

“First of all,” Clover replies, letting his contempt shine through, “That’s bullshit.”

“Clover-”

“Second of all, no.”

“ _Clover-_ ”

He hangs up.

**Author's Note:**

> Ironwood needs to drown
> 
> this is a first draft and I'm sorry but I just finished it


End file.
